Julie Beck, in red shirt, center, helps kick off the 38th annual North Carolina Pickle Festival, joining Steel County Express onstage Friday night. Beck is president of the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the Pickle Festival. (Steve Herring|mountolivetribune.com)
‘This was the largest crowd we have ever had,’ festival co-chair Julie Beck said of the 38th annual North Carolina Pickle Festival. (Steve Herring|mountolivetribune.com)
The 38th annual North Carolina Pickle Festival is in the books. Pickle lovers from near and far crowded downtown Mount Olive Friday evening, April 26, and throughout the day Saturday, April 27, taking in all things pickle — food, costumes, and merchandise — and enjoying lots of non-pickle-related events and entertainment, as well.
“This was the largest crowd we have ever had, even more so than in 2022 (coming out of COVID) in which we had around 60,000,” according to Julie Beck, president of the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the Pickle Festival. “Of course, the high attendance presented some challenges, despite the fact that we prepared for it with an expanded footprint, additional shuttles, and more food vendors. Our festival is well-advertised and has a great reputation, which draws the record crowd.
“Each year, we see more and more people dressed in pickle attire, and people are creative with their costumes. I love it!” Beck enthused.
She explained that one change festival organizers made this year was with its youngest attendees in mind. “This year, we chose to spread out the children’s activities and special entertainment to all areas of the festival footprint, so no matter where you went, you found activities and entertainment,” she said.
The festival also brought in several new activities and entertainers this year — including Rick Hubbard and his Kazoobie Show, Ross the Balloon Guy, the Poetry Fox, and knockerball (a soccer-like game in which players run around in giant protective bubbles) — and all proved to be popular, according to Beck. She also mentioned other crowd pleasers: the New Bern Puppet Show, storytelling at Steele Memorial Library, and the petting zoo (which returned after a several-year hiatus).
The most popular event, as usual, was the pickle-eating contest, Beck reported, noting that the competition is a perennial favorite for both participants and onlookers. “To me, it is mind boggling to stand on the pickle-eating stage and look at the sea of spectators cheering on the contestants,” she said, adding that the second favorite activity for festival attendees was taking selfies in front of the Pickle Mural.
As in years past, the Cuke Patch 5K Glow Run (with many runners dressed up pickle-style) took place Friday evening, with over 100 participants. The Tour de Pickle bike race, on Saturday, had its highest ever number of participants: 204.
Prior to the weekend’s events, the festival held its virtual recipe contest back in March. Coordinated by Michelle Estrada, a Family and Consumer Science Agent with the Wayne County Center of N.C. State Cooperative Extension, the contest tasks amateur cooks with creating original recipes featuring Mt. Olive Pickle Company products. From 36 recipes submitted for consideration, this year’s winners were: Claire Woolfall of Atlanta, Georgia, for her Strawberry Pickle Jalapeno Jam, in the appetizer category; Shannon Kramp of Tonawanda, New York, for her Dill Pickle Tom Collins, in the beverage category; Lisa Woolfall of Fort Myers, Florida, for her Dijon Steak Tacos with Pickle Chimichurri and Pickle Aioli, in the main dish category; and Greg Cohoon of Greensboro, N.C., for his Mt. Olive Pickle Gelato, in the dessert category. All winners were awarded a year’s supply of Mt. Olive Pickle products.
Summing up this year’s festival experience, Beck said, “It is surreal to walk around the festival and see the number of vendors, entertainers, and attendees in our small town. Our festival has gone from being a community event to an eastern United States event.”
